WORKING: Reclaiming The Spark

For many people, the daily grind at work eventually becomes just that: a grind.

Sometimes that means it’s time to look for greener pastures. But it can also mean it’s time to work on recapturing the spark of excitement and drive from the early days at the job.

“The first step is to really assess the situation: why are you not feeling that spark anymore?” says Brandon Smith, a business professor at Emory University and Georgia State University who teaches about workplace culture and communication.

He says the problem could be one of three areas: the job itself, the boss or the culture of the organization.

“That will start to then tell you what paths to go down to try to correct it, because we want to try to correct it before we look for greener pastures,” says Smith, also a career coach and workplace consultant.

Knowing whether to stay or go depends on how many of those three areas are out of alignment. If two or three don’t match up, it’s time to go.

Brandon Smith teaches about leadership, communication, and workplace culture at Emory University's Goizueta Business School. More of his advice is on his blog and at theworkplacetherapist.com. While you’re there, ask him your workplace or career question. We might answer you in a future radio segment.